


Kate

by pipisafoat



Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-28
Updated: 2011-05-28
Packaged: 2017-10-19 20:57:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipisafoat/pseuds/pipisafoat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team eats ice cream together after a few false starts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kate

The first time they ate ice cream together, they got a call for a case just as Kate was opening the box. Gibbs finished writing down the information, snapped his phone shut, and tossed the keys to Tony. “Grab your gear and bring that ice cream. I hope you brought enough for Ducky.”

A month later, she brought more, celebrating McGee’s help on a case – not his first with them, not even really his best – but Tim had already left for Norfolk by the time she remembered. “Don’t go anywhere,” she said, running off without an explanation. When she got back, desserts in hand, Gibbs was headed up the stairs with a dark look on his face, and Tony was glaring at his phone with an intensity Kate was (almost) afraid of. “Well thank you very much, Wilson. NCIS appreciates your cooperation almost as much as I do.” He slammed down the phone and stalked off to the elevator, only to turn around, snag a bar from the box Kate was holding, and call a quick thank you over his shoulder as the doors closed behind him.

By the third month, nobody was surprised when a case came up before she could even get to the freezer. The fourth month, she hadn’t bothered to buy more, not realizing that her coworkers had been snacking from her stash all month. When she offered to bring more the next day, Tony told her not to bother. “Wouldn’t want to ruin our perfect streak of never actually eating the ice cream.”

The first time they actually managed to sit down and eat the treat together was nothing short of a miracle. It was the end of a day – a day of relatively normal length, in fact – and when Gibbs told them they could pack it up and leave, Kate managed to convince him and Tony to stay.

They’d been to lunch on a slow day before and talked about things other than cases, but Kate was still worried that the ice cream break might end up being different. They had just finished a case, they were still at the office, Tony had spent the better part of the afternoon speculating about the victim’s secret life.... Even Tony’s loud exclamation of happiness (“Dark chocolate coated bars? Kate, you are the Mother Theresa of my ice cream life.”) didn’t help; after all, it was Tony, and he was always loud and happy. But she was put at ease when she saw the lustful look in Gibbs’ eyes.

Her eyes closed as she took the first bite of pure, sugary happiness, but Tony’s disgustingly sinful moans of appreciation still filtered through. She slit her eyes open just enough to see Gibbs’ amused expression before Tony started laughing. “So delicious you can’t even keep you eyes open? You know, Kate, they say chocolate is like sex to a woman.”

“Shut up, DiNozzo,” she replied with no real venom, turning dramatically to face their boss instead. Tony got up and moved to perch on the edge of Gibbs’ desk.

“Too lonely over there,” he said, smirking. “That, or I’m getting a better viewing angle from over here.”

Gibbs snorted. “So you’re either lonely or perverted. Give us a hard question, DiNozzo.” Tony shrugged, unrepentant, and returned to the serious task of devouring his dessert.

After watching the two of them for a couple moments, Kate felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. The guys looked at her questioningly, and she fought the urge to laugh. “Have you two seen the way you eat?” she asked.

“Hey! I eat ice cream very neatly,” Tony replied with mock hurt in his voice.

“That’s my point,” she laughed. “Watch Gibbs.”

“Boss?”

Gibbs shrugged and continued to eat in the exactly the same way, removing the outer chocolate shell completely before licking and sucking at the ice cream beneath. “Something wrong with the way I eat my ice cream, Agent Todd?”

Kate gave up on holding in her laughter when Gibbs’ tongue suddenly dove to the bottom of the bar, catching a dangerously large drip just before it could fall onto their latest case reports. “It’s just so backwards,” she managed. “You eat the way I always imagined Tony would, and he’s being so ... adult about it, with his careful bites.”

“Never really ate my ice cream that way,” Tony replied. “Once you have a habit, especially one as harmless at that,” he gestured to Gibbs just as a another drip was captured in the nick of time, “it’s not something you bother to change. It is interesting to know you fantasize about me and ice cream, though....”

Kate rolled her eyes, savoring the last few bites of her treat, and stretched. “Well, as enlightening and delicious as this has been, I think I’d rather have some real dinner now. See you guys tomorrow.”

The next time they ate ice cream together was in Tony’s apartment, a simple tub affair with bowls of neapolitan and, in Gibbs’ case, a ridiculous amount of chocolate sauce and sprinkles. When Kate commented, Tony smiled.

“No, I normally have sprinkles,” he told her, “but I’d rather not choke on them.” As if to punctuate his comment, he started coughing again. Kate hadn’t connected his recent plague with his desire for the smooth, cold treat, though it suddenly made a lot more sense why he’d let it sit out for a few minutes before starting.

As she was walking out the door, Tony called after her, “You’d better bring those bars again next month! I’m serious, Kate. They’re to die for.”

She laughed and replied casually, “Get them yourself, Tony. Stop being such a freeloader.” As she shut the front door behind her, she heard him trying to convince their boss that it was his turn to bring the treats next time.

The last time they ate ice cream together was at a ridiculous hour of the night down in Autopsy. Tony was still accusing Gibbs of being nice, Gibbs was still trying to find Ari, and both of them were trying to pretend it had never happened, trying not to blame her, and blaming themselves in the process. It was two o’clock in the morning; Gibbs hadn’t left yet, and Tony had come back because of insomnia. He walked into the bullpen, saw the light from Gibbs’ desk, and paused, debating whether he should stay or leave.

“Tony.” His name was spoken softly, without Gibbs looking up. “Have you been to see Kate?”

He shrugged. “Saw her on the roof, Boss.”

“That’s not the same.”

Tony stalked over to his boss’s desk, arms crossed over his chest. “How about you, Gibbs? Have you been down to see the body of the woman who died to torture you? Whose death only happened because some crackpot terrorist thinks, no, knows that you’re a bastard?” He stopped suddenly, dropped his head, shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sorry, that… I….”

Gibbs sighed, not meeting his subordinate’s eyes. “C’mon then.”

The elevator ride seemed to be over almost before it started. Tony hesitated at the door to autopsy. “Gi—“

“Shh.” Gibbs’ hand rested on his left shoulder, arm pressing lightly across his back. “We’ll talk later. For now, let’s just go see her.”

The drawer rasped softly in the dark, quiet room as Gibbs pulled out the last member of their trio.

“Hey, Kate,” Tony whispered. “I see you brought the ice cream this time.” He picked up the box of bars, smiling gently. “I didn’t literally mean they were to die for.”

He opened the box carefully and handed one to his boss. “Thanks, Kate.”

Hours later, they’d eaten the entire box of bars except two they’d unwrapped and let melt in an empty drawer beside Kate. They were sitting on the floor of Autopsy, under her, not talking, but sharing memories and pain anyway.

“We’re still doing this, right?” Tony asked quietly.

“Every month,” Gibbs replied. “Just the three of us.”

The next month, when Tony showed up at Gibb’s house with a box of dark chocolate coated ice cream bars, he didn’t say anything when Gibbs pulled out a hand-made wooden bowl that had KATE carved into the side of it; he just unwrapped a bar and set it almost reverently inside.


End file.
